Degamo’s assassins mostly ex-soldiers

From the Visayan Daily Star (Mar 14, 2023): Degamo’s assassins mostly ex-soldiers (By GILBERT P. BAYORAN)

The possibility that majority of assassins of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo are former soldiers, is being entertained by the Special Joint Task Force Negros, its spokesman, Maj. Cenon Pancito III, disclosed yesterday.

Based on revelations of the arrested perpetrators, who are all former soldiers, Pancito said that the 10 suspects behind the deaths of Gov. Degamo and eight other civilians, inside his residential compound in Pamplona, on March 4, were led by an ex-soldier, known only to his companions as “Black.”

“Based on the description, based on the training, there is [some] reason for us to believe that he is a former member of the Philippine Army,” Pancito said, referring to the leader of the group.

Not all of them are ex-soldiers, “may civilian din (there is a civilian), but somehow has military training,” he added.

Aside from the 300 Army soldiers dispatched by the 3rd Infantry Division to help the police in the conduct of security checkpoints in 21 areas of the central and southern portions of Negros Oriental, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also placed on standby its 50-man Light Reaction Company team, a counter terrorist unit temporarily stationed in the province.

Pancito said he believes the assassin group’s leader, along with three others, who remain at large, are still in Negros Oriental.

All entry and exits points of Negros Oriental, including seaports, ports and airports, are being closely guarded by authorities.

Five of the suspects, one of them killed in a gun battle a few hours after the incident, have been accounted for by the police and Philippine Army.

If we may able to account for the four remaining suspects, Pancito said they may able to put together the missing links to establish a detailed picture of the incident.


“It is clear that these 10 are not just operating on their own.”

“They have tentacles of violence. They have support systems that we also have to look into,” he added.

This group may not be organized long before, but they have been composed for a specific purpose, Pancito said in reply to the question, if the suspects are guns for hire.

He added that the group of assassins are not operating on their own, stressing that their investigations point to “someone big, someone powerful and influential,” behind the incident.

https://visayandailystar.com/degamos-assassins-mostly-ex-soldiers/